The Nutcracker
by Drair
Summary: AU. A retelling of the story of "The Nutcracker and The Mouse King" by E. T. A. Hoffman. It's Christmas Eve, and Kira has given Cagalli a mysterious enchanted nutcracker as a present. Can Cagalli break the spell and find true love? Read to find out!


A/N: Merry Christmas everyone! I hope you enjoy this oneshot. I wanted to do something holiday-ish, and this idea came to me all of a sudden. I wrote it all in one go, so forgive me if there are some mistakes. Please read and review! I really enjoy your feedback, as it helps me improve my writing. Anyways, here goes...

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><p><strong>The Nutcracker<strong>

It was Christmas Eve, and Sir Uzumi Yula Atha's mansion was a stir with festive cheer. Mistletoe hung above every doorway whilst colorful garlands heavy with gold and silver ornaments snaked down stairways and chains of red and green ribbons were looped across the ceiling. The Christmas tree, a glorious ten-foot fir which scented its vicinity with the pleasant aroma of pine, could hardly be seen beneath the many lights, ornaments, and ribbons adorning it. Brightly wrapped presents of various shapes and sizes sat at the foot of the tree. Guests milled about, chatting animatedly whilst sipping champagne and cider and munching on plates of appetizers. Christmas music played in the background to accent the holiday mood, and even the grandfather clock had been decked with a small wreathe of holly.

All persons at the party were in high spirits. At least, all but a certain Cagalli Yula Atha, the host's twenty-four-year-old daughter, who was slouched grouchily on a settee, one foot tapping in vexation as she resisted the urge to punch the source of her annoyance. This said annoyance, a flamboyantly dressed young man who had slicked his purplish hair in a ridiculous curl, was seated beside her, a little too close for comfort and chattering on inanely, utterly oblivious to her obvious irritation. Cagalli would only grunt and snort in response to her admirer, though he did not seem to mind as he was too absorbed in recounting in excruciating detail his latest exploits.

Luckily, from across the room, another young man, this one with soft brown hair and a gentle face, had spotted the young lady's plight, and threaded his way through the guests to reach her. His companion, a lovely pink-haired woman, accompanied him, and the couple settled down upon the adjacent chaise.

Seeing the two, the Cagalli immediately perked up, smiled warmly, and exclaimed, "Kira! Lacus! When did you two arrive? I was waiting for you two!"

The brown-haired young man, Kira, laughed. "Just a while ago. We were held up at the door because we ran into Sai. Haven't seen him in a while. He seems to be doing well. I was worried because the last I heard, he had a bad breakup with Flay. But he's dating Meyrin now, and they seem happy."

"That's good to hear," smiled Cagalli, before directing her attention to the pink-haired woman. "How about you Lacus? How are you doing? How's the baby coming along?"

Lacus rubbed her large belly and smiled. "Quite well. We visited the doctor last week for an ultrasound, and he said that everything was normal. We felt the baby kick for the first time just yesterday!"

"That's amazing," grinned the Cagalli. Kira grinned back at his sister as he enclosed Lacus' hand within his own. The couple exchanged a syrupy cavity-inducing look and looked so blissful that Cagalli could not help but feel a little envious of them. It was Christmas, and she was the only one among their circle of friends who was still single. Well, the purple-haired self-absorbed narcissist seated beside her was also still single, but he didn't count.

Speaking of which, the purple-haired menace had noticed her wistful gaze, and gave a sleazy smirk as he tried to snake an arm around her shoulders. "We would make a cute couple too, don't you think so, Cagalli?"

Cagalli's eye twitched in annoyance as she tried to scoot away from his advances. "Hardly, Yuna. Bestiality is not my area of interest."

"Ah, that's my Cagalli," sighed Yuna condescendingly, while brazenly resting a hand on her thigh, "So feisty. But that's what I like about you." Cagalli recoiled from his touch and her face burned a furious shade of red.

"Unfortunately, I can't say the same," snarled Cagalli, balling her hand into a fist. She had had enough of Yuna! His stupid voice and idiotic face grated on her nerves. He had been making passes at her from the moment he had arrived, and had grown bolder as the night wore on. It was time he learnt his lesson. But before she could succumb to her temper, Kira quickly spoke up and distracted her from beating Yuna to a bloody purple pulp.

"Oh right, I nearly forgot!" exclaimed Kira, "I got a Christmas present for you, Cagalli. Here." From within his coat, Kira pulled out a wrapped rectangular box, and handed it to his sister.

Curiously, Cagalli took the package and examined it. "What is it?"

"Open it," smiled Kira fondly.

Cagalli eagerly tore the wrapping off to reveal a white box. She opened the box and pulled off several layers of tissue paper before finally unveiling the present.

"A doll?" said Cagalli, raising an eyebrow as she held up the present. And such a strange doll it was too! It was a little wooden man, dressed in an old-fashioned military uniform and holding a sword. It had a scraggly beard and a painted face and a wide grin.

"It looks old and cheap," said Yuna frowning. "And quite ugly."

Cagalli bristled and had a dangerous glint in her eye as she turned toward Yuna. However, Kira, who was extremely keen on preventing unnecessary bloodshed, once again distracted Cagalli from any murderous intent by speaking up.

"It's not a doll, it's a nutcracker," said Kira pleasantly. "Let me show you." Reaching into his pockets, Kira withdrew a few large walnuts, and placed one in the nutcracker's open mouth. Pressing down on a lever extending from its back, the nutcracker's jaws closed with a snap. Opening the nutcracker's mouth again, Kira tipped its contents into his hand, revealing a perfectly cracked walnut.

Yuna snorted, unimpressed, but Cagalli was delighted.

"How lovely!" exclaimed Cagalli. Giggling, she snatched up another walnut and placed it in the nutcracker's mouth before pulling down the lever. Once again, the walnut emerged perfectly cracked.

"I'm glad you like it," said Kira, enjoying Cagalli's childish amusement. "It's a vintage piece and a bit of a collector's item. In fact, it has quite an interesting back story to it."

"Oh?" Cagalli looked up, interested, while Yuna rolled his eyes. "Tell me."

Kira grinned, and began his story...

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><p>Once upon a time, in a kingdom far, far away, there lived a beautiful princess. In all the lands, there was no lady fairer than she, for she had long flowing pink hair, sparkling blue eyes, and an angelic voice that could charm men and animals alike. Her name was Princess Meer. Her peerless beauty induced princes from lands far and wide to covet her hand in marriage, and her suitors ranged from wealthy princes of earthly lands to fairy kings of magical realms. Unfortunately, her beauty also attracted the unwanted advances of goblins, namely the Mouse Prince, a hideous and gigantic rodent with seven grotesque heads.<p>

After glimpsing her from his dank underground lair with his fourteen misshapen eyes, the Mouse Prince had decided that Princess Meer would be his bride-to-be. And so, his mother, the Mouse Queen, accompanied by several dozen malformed goblin-mice, visited Princess Meer's court everyday thereafter, frightening off the other suitors and polluting the palace with their dreadful stench.

Of course, this was an inconvenience to Princess Meer's father, King Durandel, who could no longer tolerate such unwelcome guests. But the Mouse Queen was persistent, and would not take no for an answer. Day after day she visited, bearing gifts of rotten fruit and spoiled meat. Finally, King Durandel could take it no longer, and decided to be rid of the Mouse Queen and her goblin-court once and for all by setting up mouse traps all over the palace. This strategy proved successful, and consequently, dozens of the goblin-mice perished in the traps. Furious, the Mouse Queen vowed revenge.

In a fit of rage, the Mouse Queen cursed the beautiful Princess Meer with a grotesquely over-sized head, a hideous, grinning mouth, as well as a scraggly gray beard. Her once-lovely voice was also silenced so that she could not even lament her sad fate.

In despair, King Durandel consulted his court magician, who said that the only way the curse could be broken was if a young man could be found who could break a magical nut with his teeth, hand it to the princess to swallow without looking at her, and then take seven steps backward.

The magical nut was quickly found, and King Durandel decreed that the young man who could crack the nut would be given his daughter's hand in marriage. Many potential suitors came, but none could successfully crack the nut. However, one day, a handsome young man with blue hair and striking green eyes was brought to court. He easily cracked the nut with his teeth, and handed it to Princess Meer without looking at her. Princess Meer swallowed the nut and returned to her former lovely appearance. Unfortunately, as the young man began to take the seven steps backward, the Mouse Queen sent a mouse-underling to trip the young man so that he fell and the curse rebounded onto him. As a result, he became mute, and took on Princess Meer's cursed appearance with the over-sized head, grinning mouth, and scraggly beard.

Upon seeing his hideous transformation, Princess Meer could not bear to be married to him, and reneged on her promise. And so, the unfortunate young man retained that frightful appearance for all eternity, and all nutcrackers made from that day forth bore the same look in his memory.

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><p>"That poor nutcracker," sighed Cagalli as Kira finished his story. She gazed into the nutcracker's face, and felt that the nutcracker's painted eyes were gazing sadly back at her.<p>

"How stupid," snorted Yuna. "That was the most ridiculous story I have ever heard."

Cagalli gritted her teeth and tried to ignore him. She picked up another walnut and placed it in the nutcracker's mouth, and smiled delightedly when the walnut fell out in two perfect pieces.

"Well," said Kira standing up, "I'll leave you to that then." He helped Lacus to her feet, and the two disappeared off into the next room to mingle with the other party goers. Fascinated, Cagalli remained where she sat, ignoring Yuna completely as she marveled at how well-made the nutcracker was. Its painted face looked so life-like, and she felt as though its eyes were trying to tell her something. They were a rather alluring shade of green, and though she knew that they were about as deep as the coat of paint, she could not help but think that she could get lost in them. Immediately, she felt rather silly for letting such a thought cross her mind. She cracked several more walnuts, utterly enthralled each time when the walnuts fell out in halves.

However, Yuna was beginning to grow rather bored watching her crack walnuts, and suddenly snatched the nutcracker from her hands.

"I don't see what's so amazing about this stupid thing," said Yuna, dangling it rather dangerously between two fingertips.

"Give it back!" snapped Cagalli angrily. She reached for the nutcracker, but Yuna held it farther away from her. Cagalli flushed with anger.

"Let's see what else it can crack," smirked Yuna. Plucking a stone from a nearby decorative pot, Yuna placed it in the nutcracker's mouth and pulled the lever before Cagalli could stop him.

The nutcracker's jaws made an awful snapping noise, then fell open loosely, broken. The stone tumbled out, intact.

"How cheap," sniffed Yuna, tossing it carelessly aside.

Cagalli stared at the nutcracker, lying beside Yuna on the settee with its jaws hanging open, obviously damaged. She suddenly felt that the nutcracker was probably in pain. Shaking with anger, she turned toward Yuna.

"How _dare_ you," Cagalli hissed. "That was a present from Kira. How _dare _you do such a thing."

Yuna tried to smiled comfortingly as he placed a hand on Cagalli's shoulder. "Don't worry, that thing was old and of poor quality. It was probably secondhand. I can easily buy you a new one."

Cagalli raised her hand, and laid a resounding slap on Yuna's smirking face. However, none of the other party goers seemed to notice over the din of their merry making.

"Wh-wh-" stammered Yuna, completely shocked.

"Don't look so surprised," snarled Cagalli, "You've had it coming for so long. I've always wanted to do this." She raised her hand to plant another blow on Yuna, when she felt someone grab her from behind. It was Kira.

"Calm down Cagalli!" said Kira, urgently. "This isn't the right time to do this. Just ignore him."

"He broke the nutcracker," growled Cagalli, furiously. She lunged toward Yuna, who was cowering in fear, but Kira pulled her back once more.

"Let it go for now," said Kira soothingly. "You don't want to cause a scene here." Kira then turned to Yuna and glared at him. "You had better get out of here. I don't think I can hold her back much longer." Taking his advice, Yuna quickly made himself scarce and scampered out.

Kira walked over to where the broken nutcracker lay, and gently picked it up.

"Don't worry, I can fix this." He smiled reassuringly at Cagalli. "I'll stop by tomorrow with my tools. It'll be as good as new." Cagalli nodded, though still upset. Kira gently placed the nutcracker on the mantle.

"Let's just put it here for now to keep it safe, and you should try and enjoy the rest of the party. Father will be pleased to see you socializing," said Kira. Frowning, Cagalli allowed herself to be led away by her brother, but she took one last look at the nutcracker sitting on the mantle. It looked rather lonely and sorrowful, and Cagalli could not help but feel a rush of pity for it, even though it was an inanimate object. It sat there looking abandoned and drooping slightly forward, its dislocated jaw hanging down to its chest. It seemed to be watching her forlornly as she moved farther and farther away.

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><p>Cagalli sighed in relief as the last few guests finally left. The maids had begun their cleanup and were already clearing the last remnants of food from the tables. Cagalli turned to the mantle where the nutcracker sat, and carefully picked it up. Gazing into its woeful face, Cagalli felt another pang of pity for it. Cagalli carried it up to her room, and gently laid it on her table as she searched for a role of gauze. Carefully, she bound it around the nutcracker's head so that its jaw rested shut. Surveying her work, Cagalli chuckled to herself. She was being ridiculous. She was no longer a child, yet she was imagining the nutcracker as an animated being. Kira would probably laugh if he saw how she had gone out of her way to bandage up a mere toy, mused Cagalli to herself as she absentmindedly stroked the nutcracker's face. However, the nutcracker seemed greatly soothed, though Cagalli felt that she was most likely imagining it. Cagalli placed the nutcracker on her nightstand and crawled into bed, where she quickly fell asleep.<p>

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><p><em>Dong, Dong, Dong...<em> Cagalli awoke to the grandfather clock chiming midnight. It was odd, as the sound seemed greatly magnified and echoed around her. Rubbing her eyes blearily, Cagalli sat up and realized she was no longer in her bed. Instead, she seemed to be lying on the ground, and she could hear strange rustlings and whispers around her.

Terrified, Cagalli gazed around her, and to her horror, noticed dark shapes and glowing eyes moving about in the shadows. There was enough moonlight streaming in for Cagalli to make out forms in the darkness, and she quickly realized that she was in a very, very large room. Cagalli studied her surroundings more closely, and realized to her great shock that she was still in her own room, but everything was much, much larger. When she had once stood much taller than her desk, it now towered above her like a colossal skyscraper. Had the room grown, or had she shrunk? Cagalli had no idea, but she felt alone and vulnerable and the glowing red eyes in the darkness seemed to be tracking her every movement.

"Give us the nutcracker!" boomed an ominous voice. It was a terrifying voice that was unearthly bone chilling. It sounded as though it came not from one mouth, but several.

"Wh-what?" gasped Cagalli, confused and terrified.

"We want the nutcracker!" repeated the voice. From the shadows, a large and sinister figure began to move forward. It seemed to have several glowing red eyes, which blinked weirdly out of sync and rolled about madly.

In horror, Cagalli watched the figure slowly move forward into a shaft of moonlight, to reveal itself to be a gigantic, deformed rodent with seven heads, seven pairs of bulging red eyes, seven frothing mouths.

"No-no!" gasped Cagalli, scrambling backward. She wanted to run, but she realized that she was surrounded. She could make out the shadowy figures of dozens of rats.

In complete and utter terror, Cagalli tried to crawl backwards away from the monstrosity that was slowly approaching.

"The nutcracker!" roared the monster, its seven heads thrashing about in agitation. It loomed threateningly over her cowering figure, and Cagalli could smell its putrid stench and feel its burning spittle drip from its frothing jaws as it stood over her.

The seven-headed rat began to reach one of its great claws toward her, and Cagalli closed her eyes and braced herself, expecting to feel at any moment its nails raking her skin and its foul breath on her body, but the moment never came. Cagalli opened her eyes to behold the nutcracker, who was now the same size as she was, standing protectively between her and the freakish creature, brandishing its sword.

In a rage, the Mouse King swiped at the nutcracker, who dodged out of the way and sunk its sword into the creature. However, this only seemed to enrage the goblin further, and it began to swipe wildly at the nutcracker.

The rodents hiding in the shadows moved forward to help their king, but the Mouse King waved them back.

"The nutcracker is mine!" bellowed the Mouse King's seven heads. The hideous creature began to attack the nutcracker relentlessly, but the nutcracker parried the Mouse King's attacks valiantly with his sword. However, the nutcracker's puny sword proved to be inadequate in the face of the Mouse King's monstrous might, and it snapped in two.

"No!" screamed Cagalli, as she watched the grotesque goblin sink one of its jaws into the nutcracker's arm, splintering it. The nutcracker seemed to be in great pain, but the monster would not release its grip on the nutcracker. Cagalli could only watch, sickened, as the Mouse King began to thrash its heads back and forth, jerking the nutcracker's limp and helpless form around with them.

"Stop!" cried Cagalli, rushing forward heedlessly. She flung herself at the monster, beating her fists uselessly at the thick hide on its back.

The creature released the nutcracker, and turned its attention toward Cagalli. It raised its claws to swipe Cagalli aside with a force that would have killed her, if the nutcracker had not once again come between her and the Mouse King.

Holding its broken sword in its hands, the nutcracker gave a mighty thrust upward with its last remaining bit of power, stabbing the broken blade straight into the heart of the nightmarish beast.

With a final shriek, the Mouse King vanished, and its followers followed suit, leaving only Cagalli and the nutcracker.

Rushing to the nutcracker's side, Cagalli cradled its head in her arms. Its body was damaged beyond repair, with one arm and both legs splintered and covered in bite marks.

"Don't die," sobbed Cagalli, looking into the nutcracker's face. In the dim light, its eyes were surprisingly clear and bright, and they gazed sorrowfully back at Cagalli.

Cagalli began to stroke the nutcracker's face. "Please, please don't die," she begged. "You saved me. I don't care if you are just a doll. If I were Princess Meer, I would have accepted you no matter what just for saving me. I would have loved you even if you were hideous. Oh god, please don't die!" burst out Cagalli.

Reaching up with one battered hand, the nutcracker gently wiped the tears from Cagalli's face.

_Don't cry, _his eyes seemed to say.

"No!" choked Cagalli as the nutcracker's hand fell limp at his side, and Cagalli collapsed, sobbing, onto the nutcracker's chest in despair.

_Dong, Dong, Dong... _The grandfather clock was chiming... _Dong, Dong, Dong..._

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><p><em>Dong, Dong, Dong...<em> The chimes seemed to fade into the distance and Cagalli awoke with a start. She realized there were tears on her face as she remembered her dream from last night.

The nutcracker, was he okay? Cagalli turned her head to look at her nightstand. The nutcracker was missing!

Cagalli scrambled out of bed. She barely registered that she was the right size again. She looked at the floor, but there was no trace of the battle that happened during the night nor of the nutcracker. Panicking, Cagalli searched all over her room for the nutcracker.

Just then, a maid opened the door.

"Oh, miss, you're already up!" exclaimed the maid in surprise.

"The nutcracker!" cried Cagalli a little frantic, "Have you seen the nutcracker?"

"The nutcracker?" the maid blinked.

"It's wearing a military uniform and has a beard. I tied a bandage around its head. Kira gave it to me just last night," replied Cagalli. Could it have all been just a dream? But it had been so vivid.

"Oh! Yes!" said the maid. "Master Kira stopped by early this morning and came into your room and took it because he said he was going to fix it for you. He's downstairs having breakfast with a friend and waiting for you to come down."

"Oh," said Cagalli, calming down. So it had been a dream after all.

Cagalli quickly got dressed and descended the stairs. She saw Kira sitting at the dining table. He looked up and smiled at her.

"Good morning," said Kira smiling.

Cagalli rushed forward to meet him. "The nutcracker? You have it?"

"Of course," grinned Kira. "Good as new, just like I promised." He produced the nutcracker and handed it to her.

It looked even newer than before, and sparkled with a new coat of paint. .

"Thank you!" Cagalli reached over and gave her brother a hug.

"Oh right, and this here is my friend Athrun," said Kira motioning to the person sitting beside him.

Cagalli blinked in surprise. She hadn't noticed that there had been another person at the table in her rush to retrieve the nutcracker.

Kira's friend Athrun was smiling shyly at her. He was quite handsome and had blue hair that fell attractively around his face. His eyes were a deep shade of green, and oddly familiar.

"Oh, hi," said Cagalli awkwardly. She blushed.

"Hi," said Athrun. He had stood up and walked up to her and was looking at her in a way that was making Cagalli's heart flutter nervously.

"Er, I'm going to get more tea," said Kira, standing up. He had a mysterious twinkle in his eye as he headed for the kitchen. The minute Kira shut the door behind him, Athrun stepped forward and quite suddenly pulled Cagalli into a warm embrace.

"H-huh?" stuttered Cagalli in surprise.

Athrun smiled down at Cagalli, and she felt her stomach do a few flips.

"Don't you recognize me?" asked Athrun.

Cagalli looked up and gazed into Athrun's face. Under her close scrutiny, Athrun's cheeks colored a little but he gazed steadily back.

It couldn't be... but those eyes...

"N-nutcracker?" stammered Cagalli. She felt ridiculous for voicing it out loud because there was no way that could be true, but that was the first thought that had come to mind.

To her surprise, Athrun was nodding. Cagalli was utterly floored. Was this some kind of prank?

"Is this some kind of joke?" demanded Cagalli, trying to sound angry, though the tremble in her voice betrayed her true feelings. She tried to struggle out of Athrun's arms, but he only held her closer.

"It's true," said Athrun softly. "We fought the Mouse King last night. You told me that you would love me no matter what I looked like. That's what broke the spell."

Cagalli stared at Athrun in shock. There was no way he could have known about the dream, unless it wasn't a dream and he was telling the truth.

"Do you believe me now?" asked Athrun gently, almost tentatively.

Cagalli could only nod.

Athrun looked down at her joyfully, and Cagalli blushed again in response. He leaned down and captured her lips with his own in a long and tender kiss.

Cagalli closed her eyes and sank into his warmth as she clung to his neck.

On the other side of the door, Kira smiled secretly to himself.

"Merry Christmas you two," he whispered.

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><p>AN: And Happy Holidays to the rest of you! Don't forget to review. I will be back to working on my other Gundam Seed fic very soon, I promise!


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